Embossing 101 – Sarahs Ink Spot

Embossing is a very simple and easy way to add a big WOW factor to any project.

It gives a very professional look and upgrades your cards to a whole new level – you need a few supplies to get started – a Heat Tool, a Versamark Ink Pad and Embossing Powder – they are a great investment as once you have these, they will last you for a very long time.

This is a card that features the stamp Dasher – I embossed him and the sentiment using Silver Embossing Powder – if you use silver or white embossing powders on a dark cardstock such as Basic Black or Night of Navy you will get very impressive results…click on the photo below for a larger view…

You can find all the supplies you need on pgs 195-196 of the Catalog.

To get started you will need:
100005 Heat Tool – $29.95
102283 Versamark Ink – $7.50
Embossing Powders in a variety of colors – $4.75 each

And there are some very useful add-ons too:
103083 Embossing Buddy – $5.95
102197 Powder Pals – $19.95

And if you want to be able to add glitter to stamped images:
100625 Heat & Stick Powder – $4.50
Stampin’ Glitter in a variety of colors – $4.50+

A bundle of these Embossing products would make a fabulous Holiday gift for that special papercrafter in your life – you can order them by clicking HERE

Gather your basic supplies together…

Here I have my Heat Tool, Versamark Ink, Embossing Powder and cardstock plus stamp of choice – you can also see that I am using the large Powder Pals tray – this keeps all my powder from scattering over my table – I love it…

I am using a snowflake stamp, black cardstock and white embossing powder…

On my Powder Pals tray you will see that I have a folded piece of scrap paper and have opened my White Embossing Powder so it is ready to use – also plug in your Heat Tool so that you are ready to go…

If you wish, use an Embossing Buddy to wipe over your cardstock – this will eliminate any static and help prevent the powder not to stick to any other part of your card.

Take your stamp and ink it up using the Versamark Ink pad…

Once inked up, stamp down onto your cardstock…and place the lid onto your ink pad to ensure that no bits of embossing powder get into it…

Take away your stamp and move your cardstock quickly over to where you embossing powder is – place your cardstock down and sprinkle on your Embossing Powder – don’t worry about how much you sprinkle on, as most of it you will return back into the jar…

Stand your cardstock up and gently shake & tap off the excess – you can see that I am doing this over my piece of folded white scrap paper…this makes it very easy to return to the jar…

Pick up each side of your folded scrap paper so that all the powder is in the center – and simply use it to funnel your excess embossing powder back into the jar…

And here is what you will have – your stamped image all powdered up – be careful not to touch your image as you will knock the powder off at this point – it is not set. I like to take a small paintbrush and gently brush away any excess powder around my image – again, be very careful not to disturb your image…

Take your Heat Tool and turn it on – I like to heat it up for approx 20 seconds before I use it – and then hold it at a 45 degree angle to your image and you will see the magic – your image will become shiny – as soon as this happens, move onto another part of your image.

This takes seconds – don’t linger too long or it will over heat.

Got delicate paper? You can hold your Heat Tool underneath your image – this applies the heat in a more gentle way.

Here is my finished image – you can trim it out, use a punch to punch it out or create a whole background of embossed images…either way, it is one beautiful and magical way to give your cards a wow factor…